News, Notes and Photos from the Field (Craig and Pamelia's Blog)

As you look skyward today, ponder the fact that this is the 164th anniversary of the official discovery of Neptune. (I say official because Galileo saw it nearly 400 years ago but mistook it for a star.) In those 164 years, our solar system's most distant planet has not finished even one revolution of the Sun. Because it's 30 times farther away than we are, Neptune needs almost 165 years to circle the Sun. I'll leave it to you to calculate how young you are in Neptune years (hint: divide your age by 165.)

Reminders: The Common Ground Country Fair opens in Unity, Maine, tomorrow (Sept. 24). It's put on by the oldest and largest state organic organization in the country and is a fabulous event. And if you happen to live in New York City, stop by the Anthology Film Archives on 2nd Ave. and 2nd St. tonight at 7:30 to see two new films by the ultra-creative Nancy Andrews, who teaches at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. Her work combines animation, live action, puppetry, nature and science themes, humor...so much that I can't easily describe everything. But her films are great.